AL HB239

Amends Section 40-18-131 of the Alabama Code to modify eligibility requirements for the rural physician income tax credit, effective for tax years beginning January 1, 2025.

Removes the requirement that a small or rural community must have a hospital with an emergency room; communities now only need to have less than 25,000 residents according to the latest decennial census.

Rural physicians must still meet all other existing requirements: be licensed to practice medicine in Alabama, practice in a small or rural community, reside in a small or rural community, and have admission privileges to a small or rural hospital.

Small or rural hospital definition remains unchanged, requiring either fewer than 105 beds located more than 20 miles from another acute care hospital in Alabama or receipt of Medicare rural reimbursement from the federal government.

Act becomes effective immediately.